Bandhavgarh Fort

INTRODUCTION

Bandhavgarh national park offers two kinds of tourism i.e. wildlife tourism and heritage tourism. Being a popular tiger reserve, it offers variety of mammmal and bird species. In addition to this one can also find ancient fort and other monuments and sculptured statues in core safari zone of Bandhavgarh. Now a days Bandhavgarh fort safari is closed for visitors. Bandhavgarh fort lies in Umaria district of Madhya Pradesh state in Central India. It has a great history. As per ancient deity, this fort is gifted by Lord Rama to his younger brother Laxmana due to which it was called Bandhavgarh. Here "Bandhav" means brother and "garh" means fort. It is a hill-top fort at a height of 811 meters in Vindhyachal hills and known by the name of "Moti Mahal". At present it is turned into ruins. Till year 2012 this was visited by tourists from outside and later forest department closed the site for tourists. During Kabir Mela, normal visitors can visit the site on bare foot. It is usually held in December month.

FORT HISTORY

It is a 10th century fort, located at a safe height of 811 meters on a hilltop. At the top of a hill their is a plateau of 4 sq.km. at which fort and other monuments are located along with man-made water holes. Their are about 32 hill and hillocks in Bandhavgarh forest area. It lies in Tala zone of Bandhavgarh and is visible from almost all the corners of forest. Bandhavgarh is ruled by different dynasties since 2nd century like Magh, Maurya, Vakataka, Sengar, Kalchuri and Baghels. In 2nd & 3rd century, Bandhavgarh was under Magh dynasty. In 5th century it was under rule of Sengar Dynasty followed by Kalchuris. The rule of Haihay Kalchuri during 9th century can be called the golden period of this region. Fort is believed to be of them. After Kalchuri rule, Baghel rajpoots, derived from Gujarat, finally took over the fort in 13th century. They ruled over the region from Bandhavgarh as their capital. Later Baghel King Vikramaditya Singh abandoned Bandhavgarh fort in 1617 when Rewa, at a distance of 130 km from Bandhavgarh, was established as their new capital. They are actually compelled by circumstances in which Mughals influence was the main reason. Abandonment leaves room for wildlife development in this region. When Baghel Kings became aware of it, they declared Bandhavgarh as their hunting preserve and strictly prohibited tree cutting, wildlife hunting by others. Although Baghels left shifted their capital to Rewa but the area remain in their control till year 1968. They visited the forest, time to time for hunting and had their stay in Maharaja Kothi building which is now converted into hotel called "Maharaja Royal Retreat".

FORT ATTRACTIONS

Bandhavgarh fort visit is a great experience to witness the great history of this place. Marks of human establishments are scattered in Bandhavgarh forest in the form of man-made caves, sculpture art, rock-cut rooms, huge statues, water reservoirs, temples etc. In below given table, we have listed some prominent fort safari attractions.

BANDHAVGARH FORT ATTRACTIONS

Shesh Shaiya (On the way)

Karn Pole Gate (On the way)

Vaman Incarnation Idol (On the way)

Kachahri (Court) (On the way)

Ghudsaal (Stable) (On the way)

Bandhavgarh Fort Moti Mahal (At Hill-top)

Bandhavdheesh Temple (Active at Hill-top)

Kabir Temple (At Hill-top)

Tortoise Idol (At Hill-top)

Fish Idol & Inscriptions (At Hill-top)

Varah (Boar) Idol (At Hill-top)

Dharam Das Temple (At Hill-top)

Treasury Building (At Hill-top)

Water Well (At Hill-top)

Watch Tower (At Hill-top)

Raja Talao (Man-made pond) (At Hill-top)

HOW TO REACH

By Flight :
Nearest airport for reaching Bandhavgarh fort is Jabalpur airport, at a distance of 180kms/04:30hrs. It has direct flight connectivity with Mumbai, Delhi, Bhopal etc. Second best option is Khajuraho Airport (250kms/05:30hrs) which is having flight connectivity with Delhi and Varanasi. Further from airport to Bandhavgarh is done by taxi cars. We offer Jabaplur airport taxi service and Khajuraho airport taxi service to visiting Bandhavgarh and other tourist destinations of Madhya Pradesh.

DISTANCE CHART

LOCATION MAP

From

Distance
(in Kms)

Umaria

37

Katni

100

Jabalpur

180

Panna National Park

220

Kanha National Park

260

Amarkantak

280

By Train / Railways :
Nearest railway station for visiting Bandhavgarh fort is Umaria railway station (Station Code:UMR). It is about 37kms from Bandhavgarh Tala village and have direct train connectivity with Delhi, Agra, Gwalior, Jhansi, Jabalpur, Bhopal etc. Other options are Katni railway station (100kms/02:30hrs) and Jabalpur railway station (180kms/04:30hrs). Both railway stations are better train connectivity than Umaria.

By Road:
There are state owned transport buses from Pendra Road, Shahdol
and Bilaspur. Amarkantak is connected by buses to Jabalpur (245 km),
Rewa (261 km) and Shahdol (67 km).

BEST TIME TO VISIT

Bandhavgarh fort site is now a days closed for visitors. If forest department decision will be revised, it will be available for visitors during the time park is opened for jungle safaris. It means, if fort reopens for tourists, it will be visited from 16-October to 30-June. November to April is the best time to visit Bandhavgarh national park.

ACCOMMODATION

Their are number of resorts and safari lodges surrounding to Tala village of Bandhavgarh. Here all category of accommodation options are available in which tourists can stay and do the visit to Bandhavgarh fort.